Dewtron

Dewtron was the trade mark of Design Engineering (Wokingham) Ltd. or D. E. W. Ltd. a small British electronics manufacturer, founded by Brian H. Baily on 5 February 1964. In adverts the company address is always given as, Ringwood Road, Ferndown, Dorset, never Wokingham.[note 1]

Products

One of the earliest advertised Dewtron product was the Dewtron Wave Trap, a device to boost the reception of medium wave radio broadcasts, [1][2] another was the Dewbox, a 2 inch by 2+1⁄2 inch plastic enclosure in variable lengths.[3]

Later on Synthesizers were advertised either pre-built or as kits of resin potted modules.[4][5] By 1970 the company's products included oscillators, voltage controlled amplifiers, sample and hold and envelope shapers.[6] Chris Carter, later to form Throbbing Gristle, experimented with Dewtron kit-based synthesizers early in his music career, [7] as did Chris Watson of Cabaret Voltaire.[8] In 1973 Ian Craig Marsh, (a founding member of The Human League and later to form Heaven 17) built himself a Dewtron synthesiser.[9][10]

The Dewtron Mister Bassman bass pedal synthesizer was used by Mike Rutherford on Genesis albums from Nursery Cryme (1971) onwards, before replacing it with a Moog Taurus I for the album A Trick of the Tail (1976).[11] Yes' bassist Chris Squire and frontman Jon Anderson used similar units in live performances.[12][13] John Paul Jones plays a Mister Bassman on Since I've Been Loving You on the album Led Zeppelin III.[14]

See also

Notes
  1. The Electrical Review, Volume 176, Issues 10–18, 1965, p.94, lists a trade mark application: "Dewtron [...] portable radio receivers for improving reception of sound: transistors, valves, amplifiers and electrically controlled circuits situated in factories or buildings for use in the automatic control of industrial, commercial and other operations. Design Engineering (Wokingham) Ltd., 81 Rose Street, Wokingham, Berkshire."

References
  1. Practical Wireless, April 1965, p. 1201
  2. Transistor Set Inductive Amplifier, Practical Wireless, March 1965, p. 1081
  3. Practical Wireless, May 1971, p. 91
  4. Jenkins, Mark (2009). Analog Synthesizers: Understanding, Performing, Buying—From the Legacy of Moog to Software Synthesis. CRC Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-136-12278-1.
  5. "Defunct Musical Instrument Manufacturers - D & E". audiotools.com. olafur.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
  6. "News" (PDF). Studio Sound. January 1973: 10. Retrieved 3 June 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "100 Not Out". Sound on Sound. April 1995. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  8. Life is a Cabaret by Dan Goldstein, Electronics & Music Maker, Nov. 1984
  9. Electronically Yours: Vol. I: My Autobiography by Martyn Ware, Constable, 2023, ISBN 0349135134
  10. Blind Youth: The early work of the Human League, Ex-rental.com, (archived)
  11. "Prog Pack". Hollow Sun. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  12. Hurwitz, Matt (January 2018). "Classic Tracks : Yes". Mix. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  13. Taurus Taurus Taurus by David Etheridge], Making Music, Jun. 1987, pp. 30-31
  14. Led Zeppelin All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track by Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin, Black Dog & Leventhal, 2018.
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